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Fashion Through The Decades- Ladies Style

I've been thinking about how much fashion has changed over the course of fifty years. So, I decided to write this fun little article. Let's start with the 1950's.

1950's

Ah, white hair and red lipstick era! The dresses back then were often designed as almost a maids dress. The length of the dress would go down a little past the knees, had cap sleeves and were sometimes button up. The pattern was usually floral or something very similar.
What about shoes? To tell you the truth, they were pretty much the same as they are now. High heels, with a bow or buckle and usually one solid color.

The hair? Well, lets just say you used your curling iron quite often! It was usually short or shoulder length and was, as I said before, curly! Not the top, the top stayed flat on your head but it was when your hair was about to your ears that you started curling it. Women's hair back then weren't usually wacky, funky colors. The basics, blond, brown/black or red. Simple and elegant.

Last, makeup! Simplicity was valued. The eye makeup was very natural, maybe a little bit of eye shadow and mascara and that was it. It was hardly noticeable. The lips? Ruby red.

What Made This Decade Special: The elegance.

1960's

Can you say colorful? Bright colors and funky patterns everywhere! The dresses were usually short, a couple of inches above the knee. The dress had two pieces, a blouse underneath and a simple dress on top, that was a bright color of course, like electric blue, hot pink or even a bright yellow! The dress was usually designed where it wasn't really made to fit your shape, it just went straight down and gave you a box like effect. It was usually one solid color also.

Shoes, they were just as funky as the clothing! High heels with a strap and buckle, or flats. They were closed toe and never one solid color. You could have two colors, just like you could have had five different colors on the same shoe. What was also popular in the shoes was metallic colors such as silver and gold.

And the hair is still short! Still curled, but something new is added. Hair spraying it all the way to the top of your head in a swirl type motion was very popular. What was essential in the '60's? Hairspray!

Alright, makeup time! Surprisingly, the makeup isn't as insane as the clothes. It didn't really change from the 50's except you hardly put anything on your lips so all the attention was on your eyes, which was often applied with brown eyeshadow and black mascara.

What Made This Decade Special: The wild colors.

1970's

Disco! High waisted pants that were skin tight at the thighs, and loose at the knee down. Also called, "Bell Bottoms." The jeans usually went past your belly button (yikes!) and were extremely tight. Blouses were very popular, very loose and often had floral or metallic patterns. The colors were usually bright, but not so bright that you can see them half a mile away bright like the '60's.

The shoes were...high to say the least. That's about all that was special about them, that they were ridiculously high.

The hair was long, and full of volume. Still pretty curly, but not as bad and it was sometimes even flat on your head. Lets just say that in the '70's, you didn't have to work too hard!
This is what made the '70's memorable.

The makeup. It. Was. Wild. Most of the girls had makeup going all the way up to their eyebrows, in the craziest colors imaginable! Colors went from blue, to pink, to green to orange! The mascara was colored also, in red and blue. Your lips? Nothin' on them or just a simple gloss.

What Made This Decade Special: The wild makeup.

1980's

The rocker decade! You were either a Cyndi Lauper or a Joan Jett. Cyndi, the fun, cute energetic happy one or Joan, the rebellious, hardcore rocker chick. The pants are still high waisted and in the lightest wash you can imagine. Skin tight pants and fingerless gloves were in style. The simple tee shirt was cool too, mostly of your favorite band or you had some smart ass saying on it that most likely got you a detention with your vice principal.
What was popular in shoes? Good 'ole Converse! This is when they started becoming more popular and they started having a different range of styles and colors. Socks and sandals were cool too, that's still a mystery though.

The hair was big and hair sprayed to the max! It was big, it was thick and dare I say...poofy? It pretty much looked like a dead animal on your head to be honest. But they did it to piss their parents off. Gotta love the '80's.

And the makeup was just as hardcore as everything else. The craziest eyeshadow colors you can imagine and you caked it on! Extending your eyeliner all the way to your forehead was pretty popular too. Your lipstick? Brown, red, whatever color you wanted basically. As long as it pissed someone off.

What Made This Decade Special: The rebellion.

1990's

The decade of punk rock! Overalls were considered awesome, Converse going all the way up to your knees was cool too. Polo's were popular and so were white jeans. Wearing bright neon colors were cool. (And still are) Mini skirts made out of leather were becoming popular with the teenage girls . They were also called, tube skirts. When did low rise jeans start becoming cool? '90's. Oh, and we can't forget the black leather jackets.

Shoes? Converse were still pretty popular and so were Doc Martin boots.

The hair was being dyed so many colors you forgot what your original color was! Mohawks were popular even among the girls but it wasn't something that everyone had. The hair was still big like the '80's but your hair straightener started coming out and being used. All in all to say that the hair didn't have as much volume as it used to and putting your hairspray away wasn't considered a crime!

The makeup was becoming more natural, light brown eyeshadow or anything similar was good. Earthy tones basically and a little bit of lip gloss and everything was cool. Or if you more adventurous you would just put a brighter eyeshadow on.

What Made This Decade Special: Daring to be different.

2000- 2008

This decade had an ever changing style! From about 2000 to 2003 it was the heavy metal trend. Then thanks to Avril Lavinge it went to a pop punk style which consisted of baggy pants, wrist bands, ties and spikey hair. Then from about 2004 to 2006 it was the rapper look, with the baggy pants, bling bling and side ways hats. Then, you guess it, came the emo look. Complete with skinny jeans, tight rocker tee shirts, colored converse, and hair that was all on one side of you face, dyed black with one streak of some brighter color.
The shoes seriously varied on the year but it went from basically vans, to those big skater shoes, to Converse, then back to regular running shoes.

The hair was almost always the same though, it was usually long and sometimes curled a little to give a fuller "more formal" look. Then after that it went a little short to the "Bob style" which I'm sure you've all had. Then it went to the awesome layered look.

The makeup again, depended on the year. But it mostly stayed at the natural look for daytime, and a smoky eye for nighttime. A smoky eye includes black mascara, liquid black eyeliner, eyeshadow colors such as purple, blue, black and brown. Your lips usually stay a pale pink gloss or for nighttime a blast from the past, red lipstick.

What Made This Decade Special: The ever changing styles.

So, that's it for this article. Hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!